Story Archives 2001

by Joseph Bolden, staff writer,

Because I kept taking off the brown plastic patch so it didn't correct
itself. Other than being in fights, snubbed by girls and women,
and having no depth perception, my psyche is okay. My job history
in brief: Lab Aide, Library Aide, Food Service Assistant in Oakland's
and Berkeley's Unified School District's, also a Custodian, Security
Guard, and Certified Nurse's Aide, (CNA) Dietary Aide, in a Convalescent
Hospital with Holocaust Survivors. The blue/purple numbers etched
into their flesh told me. They were terrified and cringed at my
touch. My CNA license was not renewed: my choice.  

1989, I moved to San Francisco, jobless,
homeless, drifting from shelter to shelter; let's just say I was
living the polar opposite of the 'Go Go 80's. 1991: I was on General
Assistance (G.A.) By 1994, I saved enough money from odd jobs and
G.A. to leave the shelter I was staying in, Pierce Arrow Multi
Service Center North, known on the street as "Broken Arrow,"
I move into a Single Room Occupancy hotel or (S.R.O.)
Yes, there's more, but not now; dear readers, you now know a
little about me. My apologies if you were bored. 

 top of article 

More on Knowing Joe 

I learned photography, darkroom techniques,
lighting, in what was known as Eye Gallery, renamed The
Sixth Street Photo Workshop. One day, I met a slim, red-haired
woman, named 

"Tiny," who asked me to write my true
feelings in the pages of a new magazine called POOR.
At first I balked at doing it, dredging up bad memories. But once
passed the past, I have worked on and off with the struggling magazine
since 1995. During the same time I have relearned data entry, word
processing and worked as a sorter in Goodwill Industries. A sorter's
job is to check donated items for possible resale to the public.
Items like old cameras, photos, and records, are thrown in the garbage.
Old 78's, 1930's-40's records are old and brittle, they're also
rare and valuable Americana, destroy-ing them is more of
our history lost forever.  

After graduating from Goodwill's work/education
program, POOR Magazine got a grant and
I was hired December 15, 1998. At POOR I work as a
Writer-in-training, I learned about reporting, interviewing people,
and working on different news stories. I also learn I do not like
investigative reporting. The art of Investigative Reporting is an
on-going, never ending process. 

This column is a dream, I dreamt, about when
I was homeless, in shelters, and in food lines. I am a latecomer
to the Internet, e-mail etc. Still, I'd like folks to drop by on
stealth visits for one-on-one (PNN) Poor News Network
web cast interviews. Other voices, hidden or shaded for safety reasons,
can help people I may never meet. I worry about column shock, a
version of writer's block, when I feel everything's been said and
I am all written out. Must go, please tell me what you believe and
think... "bye."  

by Joseph Bolden, staff writer,

About a week ago New York Mayor R. Giuliani's praised
New York's Filthiest (1% to 5% of rotten apples on the police force)
for the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Patrick Dorismond this month
then pulls out the late Mr. Dorismond's "sealed" records in response
to justify shooting an unarmed man. The Dorismond Family is suing
the (police for the wrongful death of Mr. Patrick Dorismond.) To
all hardworking, non racist, fair officer's that abide by "To Serve
And Protect as a real standard, a few of your "Brothers-In-Arms
are turning the populace against that 'Thin Blue Line' making a
mockery of why most of you joined the force in the first place.
These... sleazy, cowardly, (shooting unarmed people in one-on-one
or in an organized gang formation is cowardly.) out of control brutes.
A bunch of Goons in a Rabid, Mad Dog Goon Squad. I'm a transplanted
New Yorker living in ("Lets say it together) Sodom and Gomorra,
or the place with all the fruits and nuts: San Francisco, California.
Police are just as twitchy on the trigger out here, though our Mayor
"His Willi-ness" is dapper, has some finesse' in his "Power Politics.
Cops, like those funny car insurance adds: "We all do dumb things
commercials. These Keystone Cops (my apologies to the Late Hal Roach
and his family.) are not funny. L.A. has its problems too. There
was a time years back when I had just arrived tired, hungry, no
place to stay and no money that I actually went to a police department
to see if they had an empty cell I could sleep in for the night.
"You have to commit a crime."

I didn't, luckily I find a drop-in shelter this
was before lottery beds when all you did is show up early, sign
your name, S. S. (Social Security number.) and someone did not show
or is late you get their spot. If you don't have one, write your
name anyway you'd still get a bed if a guy or woman didn't show
up. (women were treated better then too.) I showered, had a four
heaping helpings of solid and liquid food, and got into clean, used
bed clothes or pajamas. My sleep is restful except for the terrified
screams in the night. Now if I went back and two cops asked me what
I am doing, I better not have hands in pockets hidden from their
view or I could end up as a dead, gallows humor, bloody joke: "I
AM TAKING MY WALLET OUT OF MY POCKET OFFICER, I DON'T WANT THIS
TO BE NO MOTHER 'FUCKIN ACCIDENT." Richard Pryor once said jokingly
even then Black humor by black comedians 'talkin truth to an integrated
audience split two ways: one saw it as simply funny and another
laughing through the pain, anguish of life and death situations
may have really been through this. In Angel City or Los Angeles
a District Attorney, George Rosenstock urging his superiors to file
conspiracy charges against several officers is pulled off a task
force days later.

Explain this to me, the man is a bonafide pass-the-bar
lawyer in good standing as a prosecutor he gathers evidence (true
not fiction or hearsay) and presents his or her case to a judge
and jury for a final verdict. Wacky Angel City D.A. Gil Garcetti
denied the Deputy D.A. sought approval on a radio talk show. Maybe
he did or the case fell on his docket, he goes about his job and
for his troubles is pulled off the case. Is this L.A. thing so scuzzy
'n rank that it really is an open and shut case on L.A.'s Snafu,
Pollute, 'um, Police Fake, 'uh Force?

(Situation Normal Everything All Fucked Up) a Military
term that fits, any other terms you can think of tell 'em to me.
These... Officer's of the law, protectors of peace and freedom (the
fallen stars, no talent bit players, de-evolved, mentally challenged,
knuckle dragging... (sorry, didn't mean to insult our chimp cousins.)
these lousy, underpaid assassins (at least real mercenaries risk
their lives with an enemy with equal access to weaponry and tactics.
Misfits in uniform do it with a badge then cringe behind it just
makes me want to hear those cop killer rap songs 'n video's because
brother's, sister's are on the front line of this manure and see
the raw 'n real. I don't ever want to hear cops bitch about being
betrayed as killers (I'm talking about the rotten, stinking eggs
on the force 'smellin it up for the many good eggs doing their jobs
24-7 year by year. L.A., N.Y.C, S.F, and other places where PIGS
are going ape shit on defenseless folks. Get those Blue Goon A-wipes
off the force before they cause more grief, heartache, and anger.

With that out do you think these yokes read out
of the same rule book? Funny, in the 30's and 40's striking workers
are beaten, jailed and killed. 50's and 60's homosexuals, beatniks,
blacks, radicals are getting the stick across the head, between
the scrotum and breast bone. Between the 70's and 80's blacks, browns,
and Asians are getting bashed and blacks, browns, women, gays, lesbians,
transsexual and gendered are the targets. But by the 1990's mostly
everyone knows of someone be they a relative, friend, or a stranger
by chance set upon the police. One thing remains the same, to some
police anyone out of uniform is the enemy. Being brown, black, Asian,
man or woman on the force. When you take off your uniform do you
feel safe or have you become another target for a goon that doesn't
know you are part of them; a fellow brother, sister, in arms, a
beat cop, chip, or on patrol in squad cars?

You, on the force think of that when and if they
mistake you for some citizen= criminal= enemy then tell me about
the thin blue line. And all young folks, talk, ask your father's,
mother's, aunts, older siblings and elders they may know something
of the so-called dead bygone days when there was strange fruit hanging
from trees, these days most of the trees are in parks or dead so
Goons shoot 'em without thinking of ropes. Be careful youngbloods
invest in education, bullet proof vests and think before reacting
cause the dogs are loose looking for an excuse any excuse to take
our lives and by hiding behind a badge: THEY CAN, HAVE, AND WILL
CONTINUE TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER. THIS IS YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD
'GOON 'umm, POLICE PORK, oops FORCE, NOW MORE THAN EVER EVERYONE
IS THEIR ENEMY. AVOID ANY CONFLICT WITH 'EM! Bye folks (Not yet)
Source:San Francico Chronicle Mon. 3, 27, 2000.

P.S. I'm available as a housesitter, hours may
vary. Prices: $200 a day, $500 weekly: $2,000 a month. For 3 months
$6,000. You may find someone incorruptible like me to housewatch.
Its possible, they may be less expensive. Your home, your choice.)
I value that borrowed space. To me all homes are sacred spaces;
from living in shelters, bad motels, a real home is priceless.  

(back to top) 

by Joseph Bolden, staff writer,

Wednesday, April, 21, 2000Friendly Fire: A military term, used when soldiers
are wounded, killed by weapons fired from our own military fighting
enemy forces in war.

Folks, like I wrote before, not all though most
police have a'Thin Blue Line' mentality down perfect. As in a Providence,
Road Island restaurant on Friday, January, 28. That mental "blind
spot"cost 29-year-old Sgt. Cornel Young Jr. an off-duty officer,
out of uniform. His life. It happened to a black police officer,
attempting to help two fellow policemen both white.

Solitro, 33, and Saraiva, 30, were responding to
a fight outside the restaurant. Young, in street clothes, drew his
gun to help the officers, both officer's said they repeatedly told
Young to drop the weapon, but he did not comply and they shot him.
The police union insisted Young's shooting was a split-second decision,
not prejudice.

I guess, between the adrenaline flow in all three
officers, a situation highly charged and poor Sgt.Young maybe didn't
hear - his focus being on the immediate problem... helping two 'brother's-in-uniform
but he in his skivvies is like any other citizen, in the way or
a suspect. Leisa Young Mr. Young's Mother is angry having to learn
Tuesday's ruling from reporter. Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse,
criticized by some community leaders for his handling of the inquiry.
Bill Fisher, an aide for Whitehouse, said "the attorney general
had left messages at her Mrs. Leisa Young home and work but could
now reach her before he held a news conference announcing the grand
jury's decision: Jury clears 2 white Rhode Island Cops of accidental
killing of off-duty officer.

To me it sounds like a righteous shoot? I may be
wrong. Warning to off-duty officer's: show a badge, police academy
ring, anything showing your police personnel too. Is it an aberration?
I guarantee this has and will happen in other places as long as
cops are trained to shoot black outlines which automatically make
African-American's or any non Caucasoid in the minds of officer's
walking targets.

My humble suggestion: change those shooting targets
into mixed colors, rainbow spectrums not just one gradient of black,
gray, brown, or white outline... in case police departments have
those around. 'Ya know between those four goons in not all of their
names begin with a G like Mayor R. Guiliani, G. Garcetti of Angle,
'uh Angel City, The Honorable Reverend/Supervisor Amos Brown, what
he's done to a family I don't care what he says in a reputable newspaper
it is WWW. Wrong! Eloquent, stylish, 'lucky Dot-money investor Mayor
Brown, and across the Bay STRONG MAYOR and Former California Governor
Jerry Brown or E-B Emperor Brown have some weird convergence going
on Darn, them aligning planets! Cops flipping out, gone crazy making
mistakes killing innocent people and if an officer isn't in uniform,
off-duty he or she is libel to be another victim.

 top of article 

I'd sure like to hear that "Cop Killer"or any other
track on the same subject and hope they B'n M know what I mean folks,
b+m-rhymes with groan. In other Cities, States, Counties, small
towns the same thing is going on and citizen's are fed up; here
it is damn near the 21st Century and cops are have devolved backwards
only with modern weapons. It's a nasty time for anyone 'walkin the
street with flops 'uh cops acting out their 'Wild Wild West fantasy's
with real weapons and I don't mean the TV show or updated movie.

There are many ex-military, gang members, younger
folks fed up-won't take this crap plus we know those bullet proof
vests, shields, armor plated don't protect one from grenades, portable,
rocket launcher's or a Vintage WWII bazooka in mint condition. People
become radicalized, organized, politicized, and more vocal and they
tend to want payback when friends, relatives, or they get shot at,
wounded over "a perception or suspicion" Cops constantly piss folks
as it is, with their power of legal murder I see why some cops "eat
their gun" Maybe the next generation of police will learn from past
mistakes.

I do not envy minority cops of either race, sex,
or sexual orientation because when you take off the uniform you
literally can lose your life as Sergeant Cornel Young Jr. did either
by trying to help or not being believed that you are one of the
'blue's only off duty.

'Wanna know what I call 'friendly fire'? When a
'smart-bullet hits a cop and knows by optical scans, colors, imaging,
diagnostic/medical technologies its made an error, corrects it by
releasing natural and nanobots healing, cleansing, closing the wound,
also excellerated healing then spills over to further heal other
areas with left over med-bots. For criminals the same so 'accidental
hits to heart, lung, or brain is no longer automatically fatal.
Back to reality.

The really sad part is as a dedicated officer if
he Sgt. Cornel Young had survived this tragic event he probably
would have thought twice before doing it again. How many off-duty
cops survived, were wounded, killed simply because they were seen
as potential criminal-with-gun-threat? Someone could make a national
website adding up statistics of related "Friendly Fire" Cop-Killing-Cops
by accident it may surprise us how many are being lost. If I offended
any former or retired cops feelings... My deepest apologies; EVERYONE-
BE SAFE. Bye folks.

by Joseph Bolden, staff writer,

Tuesday, May, 23, 2000

Boston - Millions more children than previously
thought might have lead-linked mental impairment. Another study
supports a strong link between lead exposure and juvenile delinquency.

How many of these interior-exterior painted buildings
still exist?

Does anyone remember the late 1970's or 80's crack
epidemic, and AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) infants
born to addicted mothers? Mainstream media and TV specials said,
"These babies have a dim or no future." Many of these reports are
wrong; some of these children are geniuses, although some do have
mental or behavioral problems. Notice fewer news reports on "crack
babies", though there are still problems with infants born with
drugs and the AIDS virus in their system. Then miracles happen as
babies' immune systems fight off the disease and live!

Or when so many young African-Americans died from
gang related drive-by shootings all over the inner cities of America,
that first year medical students were learning triage medicine by:

1) separating the seriously wounded from

2) the dead and death bound and

3) survivors.

News all over the country, in a main story format,
was the possible extinction of Blacks in America.
It seemed to me at the time that there was
actual glee at such a prospect. We as a people not only survived,
but thrived, as in an old Richard Pryor joke: "After 400 years of
this shit (Slavery) we ain't afraid of aliens in spaceships."

by pnn

ALABAMA

ARISE

P.O. Box 612 Montgomery, AL

36101

Phone: 334-832-9060

Fax: 334-832-9061

Birmingham Health Care for the Homeless Program

712 - 25th Street,

North Birmingham,

AL 35203

Phone: 205-439-7201

Fax: 205-458-3383

Email: judunning@cs.com

ARIZONA

Phoenix Consortium for the Homeless

902 West Culver Phoenix,

AZ 85007-1907

Phone: 602-253-6905

Fax: 602-253-6972

Primavera Foundation, Inc.

3232 E. Third Street Tucson,

AZ 85716-5545

Home: 520-325-5876

Fax: 520-881-6818

Email: gpackard@azstarnet.com

ARKANSAS

Women's Project

2224 Main St. Little Rock,

AR Phone: 501-372-5113

Northern CALIFORNIA

Listed/Ulisisted In 2001 Phone Book

Alternative Family Services

(L) 25 Division Phone: 415-626-2700

American Indian Child Resource Center

(UL) 522 Grand Ave.

Oakland, CA 94610

Phone: 510-208-1870 Email: aicrc@aicrc.org

Applied Research Center

(UL) 3781 Broadway

Oakland, CA 94611

Phone: 510-653-3415 Fax: 510-653-3427

Ella Baker Center For Hunman Rights

(L) Samantha R.ext.24 Bay Area Police Watch Project Jazzman De La Rosa
ext.26

- The 3rd Eye Movement)

- Judie Appel ext.23 (Names, Extentions contiue on Phone message)

1230 Market St. P.M.B.409

San Francisco, Ca. 94102

415-951-4844

Fax: 415- 951-4813

Website HumanRTS@Ellabakercenter.org e-mail HumanRTS@Ellabakercenter.org

Back On Track Tutorial

(L) 1399 Mcallister Phone: 415-346-9316

Bay Area Legal Aid Foundation

(415)982-8399

Bay Area Literacy (BALit)

A consortium of library-based literacy programs in the Bay Area. Our programs, which you may know as Project Read, Berkeley Reads, Project Second Chance, Write to Read, and more, all offer free, confidential tutoring for adults wishing to improve their reading and writing skills. Programs are located in communities throughout the Bay Area, and operate out of public libraries. Millions of Bay Area residents could benefit from these services that enable them to realize their professional and personal goals, and participate more fully in their communities (voting!).

The toll-free hotline is 1-888-740-READ, and our web site is www.literacynet.org/balit.

BOSS - Community Organizing Team Third Floor

(L) 685 - 14th Street

Oakland, CA 94612

Phone: 510-663-6580

Fax: 510-663-6584

Bread, Work and Justice(Johna/othan?) Community of Correspondence


(UL) Phone: 510-465-9914

California Child, Youth, and Family Coalition

Youth Crisis Line: 1-800-843-5200 (L)

Californians for Justice

(L) 1611 Telegraph Ave. Suite 206

Oakland, CA 94612

Phone: 510-452-2728

Fax: 510-452-3552

Center for Young Women's Development

695 Market St. Mission(L)

San Francisco, CA

Phone: 415-977-1980

Central YMCA of San Francisco

220 Golden Gate Ave.(L)

Phone: 415-855-0460

Child Care Inclusion Challenge Project

Phone: 415-343-3334(L)

Children's Council of San Francisco

Phone: 415-243-0700 (L)

575 Sutter Street. San Francisco CA.

Child Care Referral: 415-243-0111

Coalition for Ethical Welfare Reform

459 Vienna Street (L)

San Francisco, CA 415-239-5099

Community Action Now (CAN)

1581 - 20th Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94107

Phone: 415-759-7669 Web: www.cansf.org

*CopWatch

Phone: 510-548-0425

CTWO

1218 E. 21st Street

Oakland, CA 94606

Phone: 510-533-0923

Fax: 510-533-0923

Email: mtoney@ctwo.org

Disabled Advocates of Minorities Organization (DAMO)

(L) 415-695-0153

DrawBridge (L)

PO Box 2698

San Rafael, CA 94912

Phone: 415-456-1269

Fax: 415-456-3284

Email: arts4home@aol.com

East Bay Community Law Center

Phone: 510-540-4848

Family Rights and Dignity

415-346-3740

Family Self-Sufficiency Program

Phone: 415-345-0126

Families With A Future

100 McAllister Street

San Francisco, CA 94102

Phone: 415-255-7036, ext. 320

Fax: 415-552-3150

Web: www.fwaf.net

Haight Ashbury Free Clinic

1440 Chinook Ct Treas Is

San Francisco, CA

Phone: 415-487-5638

Haight Ashbury Food Program

1525 Waller

San Francisco, CA

Phone: 415-566-0366

Holy Family Day Home
299 Dolores Street
San Francisco, Ca 94103
Free Childcare spaces available now for children age 2-5 years old.Must be toilet trained.To qualify: family must be certified homeless and be working towards employment or educational goals.For more information, call (415) 861-5361.

Homebase (Senter For Common Conserns)

870 Market St. (L)

San Francisco, Ca. 94102

Phone. 415-788-7961

Homeless Prenatal Program

Phone: 415-546-6756

Just Cause

Oakland 1-510 464-1011

Legal Services for Prisoners with Children

100 McAllister Street

Phone: 415-255-7036

Email: lspc@igc..org

Lifetime

2065 Kittredge Street Suite E

Berkeley, CA 94704

Phone: 510-452-5192

Fax: 510-452-5193

Email: dspatz@hotmail.com

Living Wage Coalition

955 Market St. 11th Floor

San Francisco, CA 94103

Phone: 415-243-8133

Fax: 415-243-8628

Mission Agenda

2940 - 16th Street Suite 204

San Francisco, CA 94103

Phone: 415-436-9707

Fax: 415-436-9170

Email: magenda@energy.net.org

Media Alliance/Raising Our Voices

(415) 546-6334

Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition

Phone: 415-431-4210

Mildly Ill Childcare Program

Phone: 415-821-0411

San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of The National Lawyers' Guild

Phone: 415-285-1055

Parents United for the Needs of Children (PUNCH)

Phone: 415-357-4674 (?)

People Organized to Demand Economic Right

Phone: 415-431-4210

POWER 32 -

7th Street

San Francisco, CA 94103

Phone: 415-864-8372

Fax: 415-864-8373

Prison Activist Resource Center (PARC)

PO Box 339

Berkeley, CA 94701

Phone: 510-893-4648

PUEBLO(?)

1920 Park Blvd.

Oakland, CA 94606

Phone: 510-452-2010

Fax: 510-452-2017

Email: peopleunited@igc.org

Respite Care Program & Infant Care Program

Phone: 415-821-1300

Salvation Army Adult Women's Shelter

Phone: 415-292-2585

San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness

468 Turk Street

San Francisco, CA 94102-3606

Phone: 415-346-3740 x306

Fax: 415-775-5639

Email: coh@sfo.com

SHAC (Senior Housing Action Network)(L)

Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco

1370 Mission Street, 3rd Floor

San Francisco, CA. 94103

Phone: 415-398-0527

Fax: 415-703-0186/

shac9@hotmail.com

Single Parent Network

Phone: 415-387-3684

Supportive Parents Idependent Network

4069 30th Street

San Diego, CA 92104

Phone: 619-285-1003

Fax: 619-285-1019

Talk Line

Phone: 415-387-3684

(For Emergency: 24-hour Hotline)

The California Association for Health, Education, Employment, and Dignity,
Inc.

Phone: 415-642-9886

Email: caheed@caheed.org

Third Eye Movement

Phone: 510-632-1195

Vineyard Workers Services

PO Box 166

Glen Allen, CA 95422

1-707 933-0897

Email: vws@vom.com

Whitney Young Child Development Center

Phone: 415-821-7550

Women's Economic Agenda Project (WEAP)

Phone: 406-543-2530

Fax: 510-986-8628

Email: weel@montana.com

Young Women's Work Project

Phone: 415-974-6296

Southern CALIFORNIA

Acorn

Suite 25 1010 S. Flower

Los Angeles, CA 90015

Phone: 213-747-4211

Fax: 213-747-4221

Email: caacornia@acorn.org

Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness

Suite 339 548 S. Spring Street

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Phone: 1-213-439-1070

Home: 626-577-5615

Fax: 213-439-1080

Email: HN1674@handsnet.org

COLORADO

Colorado Coalition for the Homeless 2

100 Broadway

Denver, CO 80205

Phone: 1- 303-293-2217

Fax: 303-293-2309

Email: JP@coloradocoalition.org

Denver Grassroots Leadership

Denver, Colorado

1-303-753-1370 (Denver Leadership Conference)

CONNECTICUT

Mothers for Justice(not) Some Christian Org.

168 Davenport

New Haven, CT 06519

Phone: 1-203-777-7848

Fax: 203-777-7923

Vencinos Unidos

PO Box 260 268

Hartford, CT 06126

Phone: 860-236-1295

Fax: 860-236-8071

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Center for Community Change (CCC)

1000 Wisconsin Ave. NW

Washington DC 20007

Phone: 202-342-0567

Fax: 202-342-1815

National Low Income Housing Coalition

Suite 610 1012 - 14th Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20005-3406

Phone: 202-662-1530

Home: 703-683-8639

Fax: 202-393-1973

Email: sheila@nlihc.org

National Partnership for Women and Families

Phone: 202-986-2600

Fax: 202-986-2539

FLORIDA

Florida Coalition for the Homeless c/o Office of Justice and Peace

134 E. Church Street

Jacksonville, FL 32202-3130

Phone: 904-358-7410

Fax: 904-358-7302

Email: peace@cxp.com

Miami Workers Center

16375 NE 18th Ave. #315

North Miami, FL 33162

Phone: 305-919-7222

Fax: 305-919-7665

Email: miamiproject@hotmail.com

Minority Families Fighting Wages

6020 NW 13th Ave. #9

Miami, FL 33147

Phone: 305-919-7222

Fax: 305-919-7665

Email: miamiproject@hotmail.com

GEORGIA

Center for Human Rights Education

Phone: 404-344-9629

Empty the Shelters

Atlanta, GA 404-589-1333

GA Citizens Commitee

on Hunger Nine Gammon Ave. SW

Atlanta, GA 30315

Phone: 404-622-7778

Fax: 404-622-7992

Email: hungercoalition@mindspring.com

Georgia Human Rights Union

Phone: 404-622-7778

Project South NIne Gammon

Avenue SW Atlanta, GA 30315

Phone: 404-622-0602

Fax: 404-622-7992

Southerners for Economic Justice (SEJ)

Nine Gammon Ave.

Atlanta, GA 30315

Phone: 919-682-6800

Fax: 919-682-6502

Task Force for the Homeless

Second Floor 363 Georgia Avenue, S.E.

Atlanta, GA 30312-3139

Phone: 404-230-5007 x118

Home: 404-659-2590

Fax: 404-589-8251

Email: abeaty@mail.homelesstaskforce.org

Union of the Homeless c/o Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless

363 George Avenue, SE

Atlanta, GA 30312-3139

Phone: 404-230-5000

Home: 404-688-1755

Fax: 404-589-8251

by Leroy Moore

As a Black disabled man, I can not rely on Hollywood to represent me! Although Hollywood may be learning about people with disabilities and it already has had years upon years to learn about Black culture and how to represent Black people, Hollywood has not connected the two into one: Black disabled people. I was really excited to see movies with disabled themes and actors playing disabled roles, but when I concentrated on what has been coming out of Hollywood I realized that the movies have looked like the dominant culture.

Before the mid 90’s I could count on one hand the movies that had a Black actor or actress in a lead disabled role, and they were not portraying disability in a positive and empowering light. On the other hand, there have been many movies with White actors and actresses playing positive disabled roles.

Lately, Hollywood has been cashing in on disabled people.There is a lack of diversity in roles, however. Nine times out of ten, White disabled people are enjoying this newly found fame while Blacks and other disabled minorities are nowhere to be found, or are cast in negative roles such as drug dealers or gang bangers, as portrayed in "Boyz in the Hood" and "Slam." Check out the characters and themes in movies like "Children of a Lesser God," "Rain Man," "Born on the 4th of July," and in last year's "The Other Sister,""Theory of Flight," "At First Sight" and "The Mighty." These characters and themes are uplifting, inspirational and they are positive. The 1992 movie "The Waterdance" features diverse characters in disabled roles, but the two main characters represent the balance of good and bad. Compare Wesley Snipes' character to the one portrayed by Eric Stolz and you will find out how Blacks and other minority characters in disabled roles are shaped and viewed in Hollywood.

Recent documentaries on the lives of disabled characters are receiving more attention. In 1999 a local disabled writer won an Oscar for his documentary "A Breathing Lesson: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien." This was a great movie, but I am still waiting for a documentary about a disabled minority in an empowering and positive role! Hollywood seems to be learning about disabled people, disability culture and arts. Hollywood has yet to realize that the disability rights movement and the new disability culture is still lacking diversity thus leaving different perspectives, views and lifestyles out. When you watch these movies with disabled characters and themes, ask yourself: do they represent the whole disabled community, or only the dominant culture?

Recently, the skin colors are changing on the big screen and in small independent films. In 1999 the small but wonderful independent film "Compensation," by Zeinabu Irene, appeared at the 2000 Sundance Independent Film Festival, but hasn’t made it to most theaters yet. This drama is about the life of a deaf African American woman in the early 1900’s, paralleled with the life of another deaf woman living in the 1990’s. "Compensation" examines the relationships of young black couples in which the female is deaf and the male is hearing.

Another recent documentary tells the story of a Black blind man of San Francisco, blues singer Paul Pena. In "Genghis Blues," Pena hears this strange sound coming from his radio that turns out to be Tuvan throat-singers. Pena masters Tuvan throat singing, and then travels across the world to win a Tuvan contest, discovering a newly independent life.

On top of this, it seemed that last year was the year of minorities in disabled lead roles. Denzel Washington in "The Bone Collector" plays a New York City detective who becomes a quadriplegic after a near fatal injury in the line of duty. Washington is left with only his voice and movement in one finger. What is new and shocking is Washington is not a drug dealer and at the end he is still disabled and he gets the girl! Wow!

In the "Green Mile," a movie adapted from a Stephen King novel, Micheal Clarke Duncan plays a Black giant with some kind of mental disability. It is revealed during the film that he is really an angel with healing powers, but is on death row for the murders of two white girls. To put a black disabled giant in the role of an angel is a new way to think about how we view angels!

And how about the recent movie, "The Color of Paradise?"It is the only movie I know of that deals with traditional Asian culture and blindness.

The latest gossip in Hollywood days is about a film on the life and work of Frida Kahlo, a famous Mexican artist, activist and teacher who was disabled from polio and a bus accident.

The recent increase in disabled minority roles is great, but not surprising. Hollywood, like our society in general, has been realizing that disability is a part of life, White or Black. Recently actors, actresses and sports legends have entered the gates of the disabled community. Many think Christopher Reeves started this turn around in the focus of Hollywood on people with disabilities. In reality, we all know that there were many that came before Christopher Reeves, i.e. Richard Prayor with MS and soul singer Teddy Pendergrass, who was in a car crash in the early 80’s that left him paralyzed. And we can't forget the one and only Tony Cox, a Black actor who is a midget and has been around in show business for ten years. He has starred in over thirty movies and commercials, making his most recent appearance in the hit "Me, Myself & Irene," which came out last year.

Although today I see disabled minorities or minorities in disabled roles, it’s still far too few, and most are males with limited roles. Take Tony Cox: he has been in the business since 1977 but his part in "Me, Myself & Irene" is the only one in which he had a leading role and ends up with the girl.

The words of Tony Cox hit it on the nail. He was interviewed by the San Francisco Bay View last year. He said, "Hollywood in some ways maybe views us, African Americans, as invisible. The success of Denzel Washington is great! But how many Denzels you see in Hollywood?" I would like to add to Mr. Cox’s statement by saying, 'how many Tony Coxes, a Black disabled actor, you see in Hollywood?'

By Leroy F Moore Jr. 12\00

Founder & Executive Director of Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization, DAMO.

by S.H.A.C.

San Francisco, CA-Members of the Senior Housing Action Collaborative (SHAC) joined up with members of the SF Tenant’s Union to spread a holiday message: STOP EVICTING SENIORS!

They chose the Law Offices of Wiegel and Fried to kick off their carol tour. Wigel and Fried are the attorneys who represented to John Hickey Brokerage in their much publicized eviction of 84 year old Lola McKay last year. They are at it again. This time two seniors are on the chopping block; Norma Morgan and Alma Augueles.

Alma Augueles is being evicted from her flower shop in the Mission. Alma is 55 years old and a native of San Francisco. Her landlord, Kaushik Dattani has hired Wiegel and Fried for their expertise in evicting seniors in order to displace Alma from her shop where she lives and works.

According to Ted Gullicksen from the SF Tenants Union, "Unlike dot.coms who go unpunished for violating the planning code, Alma is being evicted.The irony is that she is actually adhering to the LIVE/WORK philosophy while many dot.coms do not."

Weigel and Fried’s services have also been retained by the WCW Corporation in order to evict Norma Morgan and the other tenants from their four unit building in the Inner Sun -set. Norma is also a senior and she is disabled. She is a member of the Senior Action Net-work and she is fighting mad. "I have lived in San Francisco for 55 years. Weigel and Fried have been hired to assist this out of town corporation to maneuver through San Fran-cisco’s rent control ordinance in order to evict me. They are using the Ellis Act to sweep us all out. Thanks to John Burton’s Lola Mckay amendment I have one year to look for a place. However, six months have already gone by and I am not one step closer to finding an affordable roof over my head. I am simply asking for Wiegel and Fried to stay the evic-tion until I find affordable housing to move into."

>p>The seniors and tenants from the Senior Housing Action Collaborative and the SF Ten-ants Union serenaded Weigel and Fried with revised holiday carols such as "I’ll be home-less for Christmas" and "Here Comes the Landlord" and presented them with stockings full of coal as well as their demands. Wiegel and Fried, however, were not the only recipients of these seniors mock-carols. The SF Association of Realtors and Mayor Willie Brown also received stokings full of coal.

by By DAVID ROHDE, NY TIMES ( courtesy of The Homeless People's Network)

A federal judge has upheld a Giuliani administration policy that allows police officers to arrest homeless people for sleeping in cardboard boxes in public. Judge John S. Martin Jr. ruled on Tuesday that a 1969 Sanitation Department regulation barring people from abandoning cars or boxes on city streets could be applied to homeless people sleeping in boxes.

The ruling, in Federal District Court in Manhattan, was a rare victory for the Giuliani administration in a series of court battles over homelessness. In February, a state judge blocked an administration effort to bar homeless people from shelters if they failed to meet work requirements and other welfare eligibility rules.

Judge Martin's ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by a homeless Army veteran, Augustine Betancourt, one of 25 homeless people arrested for sleeping in cardboard boxes in a Lower Manhattan park in 1997. Police held Mr. Betancourt for 27 hours, strip-searched him and issued him a summons after the Manhattan district attorney's office declined to prosecute him.

Michael D. Hess, the city corporation counsel, said Judge Martin's ruling was a victory for the city's crackdown on quality- of-life offenses. "We thought it was significant and important," Mr. Hess said. "It was a challenge to one aspect of the program, and we're gratified that the federal court has upheld the regulation."

But Douglas H. Lasdon, a lawyer with the Urban Justice Center who represented Mr. Betancourt, said he was dismayed by the ruling. "I think it's a dishonest and insensitive opinion," he said.

Mr. Lasdon said he had not decided whether to appeal. He and Eric Twiste, a lawyer who also worked on the case, said they were simply trying to prevent the city from improperly applying the regulation to homeless people.

The regulation is one of numerous laws and rules used by police officers to order homeless people off city streets or out of city parks. For example, Parks Department regulations ordering all people out of parks at 1 a.m. or barring camping without a permit are used more often by the police against the homeless.

The Sanitation Department regulation attacked in the lawsuit was used by the police to arrest fewer than 200 homeless people between 1993 and 1998, according to court documents. Mr. Lasdon said he decided to file the lawsuit after Mr. Betancourt walked into a legal clinic he was operating at a soup kitchen and complained about the arrest.

"I thought it was, at a minimum, important to show symbolically that quality-of-life enforcement had exceeded reasonable and legal limits," Mr. Lasdon said. "I was not trying to have any major policy changes from this one little case."

The sanitation code regulation at the center of the dispute is titled "Vehicles and other movable property." The section describing its intent reads: "The need for this legislation is indicated by the ever-increasing number of abandoned cars in the city of New York. The purpose of this section is to punish those persons who abandon and/or remove component parts of motor vehicles in public streets."

The regulation bars people from leaving "any box, barrel, bale of merchandise or other movable property" on city streets or erecting a "shed, building or other obstruction." It also blocks people from abandoning "any motor vehicle, not otherwise lawfully parked," on city streets.

When the Giuliani administration began its quality-of-life crackdown in 1994, it issued police guidelines with a new interpretation of the 1969 regulation. The ban on anyone erecting an "obstruction" on city streets could be applied to a homeless person sleeping in a cardboard box.

Mr. Lasdon argued that the rule was improperly applied to Mr. Betancourt and was part of an effort by the Giuliani administration to "oppress, threaten and intimidate" the homeless.

Judge Martin found that the city's interpretation of the regulation was reasonable, and he dismissed all but one of Mr. Betancourt's claims. The judge found that Mr. Betancourt had been improperly strip-searched. A lawsuit based on that claim alone, the judge ruled, could continue.

City officials said the arrests were necessary after homeless people who left debris in Collect Pond Park, across from the Manhattan Criminal Court building at 100 Centre Street, refused offers of shelter.

In an interview last year, Mr. Betancourt said he feared for his safety in city shelters and felt more comfortable on the street. After serving three years in the Army, he received an honorable discharge in 1987, then began a slow slide into homelessness. Mr. Betancourt, who said he suffered from depression and anxiety attacks as an adolescent, gradually cut off contact with his elderly parents. Odd jobs dried up after the stock market crash of 1987. In 1988, he lost a room in a cheap hotel. The 1997 arrest was Mr. Betancourt's first.

Mr. Hess said the administration's policies toward the homeless had succeeded. "It has improved the quality of life and the feeling of security people have," he said. "I think most citizens of the city, if they are walking in the park and they see some unknown figure sleeping in a cardboard box, they don't feel very secure."

Mr. Lasdon last had contact with his client several weeks ago. Mr. Betancourt, he said, remains homeless.